In known methods and devices for loading a glass processing installation, the glass plates are extracted from the storage space, delivered to the glass processing installation in an undivided state, and then for example divided to the desired sizes. The production often requires e.g. producing glass plates of different types in a certain sequence or producing a determined number of glass plates of the same type. In the production of insulating glass pane, for example, a coated glass pane is joined with an uncoated glass pane, the panes having previously been cut to the desired size from respective glass plates. However, since the glass plates are delivered to the glass processing installation in its entirety, the separated glass plates have to be sorted accordingly resp. temporarily stored. This is complicated as it requires corresponding installations for handling and intermediate storage of the glass plates. Another drawback of the methods and devices of the prior art is that e.g. in the production of a small number of glass plates of a given dimension, only a part of a whole glass plate is needed, such that the remainder of the glass plate (“residual sheet”) must be removed from the production line and temporarily stored for future processing. However, the handling, storage, and management of residual sheets are relatively complicated.